Canto II: Ge XXV
One bound he made, and gained the sand:Already at his feet hath sunkThe foremost of the prying band,A gasping head, a quivering trunk:Another falls--but round him closeA swarming circle of his foes;From right to left his path he cleft,And almost met the meeting wave:His boat appears--not five oars' length--His comrades strain with desperate strength--Oh! are they yet in time to save?His feet the foremost breakers lave;His band are plunging in the bay,Their sabres glitter through the spray;Wet--wild--unwearied to the strandThey struggle--now they touch the land!They come--'tis but to add to slaughter--His heart's best blood is on the water.
Escaped from shot, unharmed by steel,Or scarcely grazed its force to feel,haHad Selim won, betrayed, beset,To where the strand and billows met;There as his last step left the land,And the last death-blow dealt his hand--Ah! wherefore did he turn to lookhbFor her his eye but sought in vain?That pause, that fatal gaze he took,Hath doomed his death, or fixed his chain.Sad proof, in peril and in pain,How late will Lover's hope remain!His back was to the dashing spray;Behind, but close, his comrades lay,When, at the instant, hissed the ball--"So may the foes of Giaffir fall!"Whose voice is heard? whose carbine rang?Whose bullet through the night-air sang,Too nearly, deadly aimed to err?'Tis thine--Abdallah's Murderer!The father slowly rued thy hate,The son hath found a quicker fate:Fast from his breast the blood is bubbling,The whiteness of the sea-foam troubling--If aught his lips essayed to groan,The rushing billows choked the tone!
Words in this poem
- prying a.
- Inspecting closely or impertinently.
- desperate a.
- Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
- lave v. t.
- To lade, dip, or pour out. [OE. laven. See Lavish.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto II: Ge XXV is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3, Project Gutenberg ebook #21811; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lord Byron, Canto II: Ge XXV, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/canto-ii-ge-xxv.html, id L23895.
Form and metre
Canto II: Ge XXV is 44 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 68% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCC-DEEDDFFAAGG sandA · sunkB · bandA · trunkB · closeC · foesC · cleft · waveD · lengthE · strengthE · saveD · laveD · bayF · sprayF · strandA · landA · slaughterG · waterG
- 2 --AABB-C-CCCDDEEFF--GGHHII steel · feel,ha · besetA · metA · landB · handB · lookhb · vainC · took · chainC · painC · remainC · sprayD · layD · ballE · fallE · rangF · sangF · err · murderer · hateG · fateG · bubblingH · troublingH · groanI · toneI
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| One bound he made, and gained the sand: | 8 | ········ |
| Already at his feet hath sunk | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| The foremost of the prying band, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| A gasping head, a quivering trunk: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Another falls--but round him close | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| A swarming circle of his foes; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| From right to left his path he cleft, | 8 | ········ |
| And almost met the meeting wave: | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| His boat appears--not five oars' length-- | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| His comrades strain with desperate strength-- | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Oh! are they yet in time to save? | 8 | ········ |
| His feet the foremost breakers lave; | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| His band are plunging in the bay, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Their sabres glitter through the spray; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Wet--wild--unwearied to the strand | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| They struggle--now they touch the land! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| They come--'tis but to add to slaughter-- | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| His heart's best blood is on the water. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Escaped from shot, unharmed by steel, | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| Or scarcely grazed its force to feel,ha | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Had Selim won, betrayed, beset, | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| To where the strand and billows met; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There as his last step left the land, | 8 | ········ |
| And the last death-blow dealt his hand-- | 8 | ········ |
| Ah! wherefore did he turn to lookhb | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For her his eye but sought in vain? | 8 | ········ |
| That pause, that fatal gaze he took, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Hath doomed his death, or fixed his chain. | 8 | ········ |
| Sad proof, in peril and in pain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| How late will Lover's hope remain! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| His back was to the dashing spray; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Behind, but close, his comrades lay, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| When, at the instant, hissed the ball-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "So may the foes of Giaffir fall!" | 8 | ········ |
| Whose voice is heard? whose carbine rang? | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Whose bullet through the night-air sang, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Too nearly, deadly aimed to err? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| 'Tis thine--Abdallah's Murderer! | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| The father slowly rued thy hate, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The son hath found a quicker fate: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Fast from his breast the blood is bubbling, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The whiteness of the sea-foam troubling-- | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| If aught his lips essayed to groan, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The rushing billows choked the tone! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
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